798 District Blog

TOKYO.- ART FAIR TOKYO, the largest fair of its kind in Japan, began in 2005. This year it celebrates its fifth anniversary. ART FAIR TOKYO features a wide range of genres and periods of art, such as antiques, Asian art, nihonga, modern art, and contemporary art. ART FAIR TOKYO is where art enthusiasts, art collectors, journalists, and curators come together to seek artworks and confirm the latest trends of the art world. ART FAIR TOKYO 2010 will feature 139 top galleries, from Japan and around the world, — showcasing a total of approximately three thousands artworks.

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On the dawn of Nov.23, Wu Bin’s “18 arhats” fetched 169 million on the sale of Ullens’ Chinese calligraphy and painting collection in Poly autumn auction. It is a new record for Chinese painting and individual artworks.

Chinese ancient paintings keeping breaking the record reflects their real values and strong purchase power of vibrant market.

This week’s auctions of contemporary art in New York saw the market take a distinct upswing, with energetic sales culminating in an astonishing $43.8m given at Sotheby’s for a rare silk-screen painting by Andy Warhol.

“This was an unbelievably strong sale,” said New York dealer Christophe Van de Weghe on Wednesday night. “People just wanted to spend money tonight, they were tired of holding back.”

The auction house had just raised $134.4m in its 54-lot sale, well ahead of its high estimate of $97.7m (presale estimates do not include commissions; results do). Only two lots failed to find buyers.

Read more at ft.com

NEW YORK – The auction market is booming and, when it comes to contemporary art, it is charging on at an accelerated pace, as it did before the financial turmoil broke out in the autumn of 2008.

This week, those attending Christie’s and Sotheby’s evening sessions traditionally reserved for the most important works might have briefly thought that there never was a recession. No awareness of it appeared to linger in the bidders’ minds as they ran up paintings, drawings and sundry three-dimensional works to three times the estimate, or more.

It all culminated with the staggering $43.76 million paid at Sotheby’s on Wednesday for Andy Warhol’s “200 One Dollar Bills,” a silkscreen and pencil work dating from 1962.

This extraordinary outburst of bullishness was the upshot of a two-part play in which Christie’s session on Tuesday served as a launching pad to Sotheby’s superior sale.

Red More at http://www.nytimes.com